Interview with Daniele Lanzarotta

Recently I had the opportunity to meet the lovely and talented Daniele Lanzarotta the author of the Imprinted Souls series.  Her latest book Wide Awake (the Academy of the Fallen) was recently released and promises to be epic.  Her website http://www.danielelanzarotta.com  is pretty awesome.  Make sure to check out her book trailers - they are mesmerizing and will have you buying the book instantly.    Daniele will be gifting one of my lucky readers with an e-book of their choice of Imprinted Souls or Wide Awake.  


It is easy peasy - but it doesn't come without rules.  Just go to her blog  http://danielelanzarotta.blogspot.com and come back and tell me who her question and answer on July 26, 2011 was with.   Easy right?  The winner will be randomly picked.  Happy reading! 


Interview questions

1. Where did you come up with the idea for Wide Awake?

I was actually working on Bloodlust (Imprinted Souls Series 2), when Kayla (Wide Awake) popped in my head.  I knew that with my next series I wanted to create a new world at some point in the storyline, so that was when I came up with the concept for the Academy.

2. Was it easy going from writing the Imprinted Souls series about vampires to writing about fallen angels?

Absolutely!  I can switch back and forth between characters and what they are pretty easily.   Here is a fun fact though; in Imprinted Souls you will meet one very special vampire, who was a fallen angel before she was turned.  Still, she is very different from the fallen in ‘Academy of the Fallen’.

3. Do you have a certain process you do to get the creative juices flowing?

I usually get ideas at the most unexpected times, but as far as actually sitting down to write the stories, music seems to be the key to my creativity.

4. How long did it take you to write Wide Awake?

This is an interesting question.  Wide Awake was a little different than my other books.  I wrote the first part of Wide Awake (what I call ‘before the Academy’).  I then shared my time between writing Divine Ashes and Wide Awake.  For Wide Awake alone, took about 4-5 months.

5. What is one thing about you that your fans don’t know?

* laughs * I really don’t know.  If they follow me on Facebook or Twitter, they probably know it all!

6. If you had one super power what would it be?

This is a tough one. I would like to say read minds, but that would be a curse.   *laughs*  Mind control seems pretty powerful.  I think that would be my choice.

7. Would you prefer going to the park for a relaxing picnic or are you an amusement park roller coaster person?

* laughs * I’m totally NOT a roller coaster person.  I will go for the relaxing picnic at the park.

8. What are the last five books you’ve read?

Passion by Lauren Kate, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, and the 3 Mortal Instruments books by Cassandra Clare.


9. What author has inspired you the most through your career?

Only 1?!  Okay… well, being that I have to pick only one, I would say Richelle Mead.  Her character development is flawless.  If you know me, you know how attached I’m to my characters...

10. What is the story behind your title and cover?

Most of my titles and covers fall under the ‘it just came to me’ category.  My best story behind a title is for Divine Ashes and that was pure coincidence (in a creepy way).  In Divine Ashes, you learn the back-story of Lydia (Lexi’s past life) and Loren.  One of their scenes is at an Opera House in Venice.  In real life, there was a fire at that Opera House and when they rebuilt it, they named it La Fenice Opera House.  In the book, La Fenice is where Tyler meets Lexi.  The name of the Opera House relates to it “rising from the ashes”, which is exactly what happens to one of the characters in Divine Ashes.  The weirdest part is that in the book, Lydia and Loren’s story happened in the same year as the fire.

11. What do your order at your favorite coffee shop?

White Chocolate Mocha! Yum.

12. When will your book be released and where can we buy it?

You can find ‘Academy of the Fallen: Wide Awake’ and ‘Imprinted Souls Series’ 1-3 (Imprinted Souls, Bloodlust, and Divine Ashes) on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords… you can also find the paperback through my publisher’s website at http://shop.rsp-llc.com/  Blood Bound (ISS #4) will be released this October, and Nephilim (Academy of the Fallen 2) in 2012.